Peter Moore has dropped hints that Microsoft may have some kind of simpler new controller in the works for the XBox 360. Talking about current joypads, he pointed out that there are a lot of buttons, triggers and levers on there which may confuse and intimidate someone not used to holding such a thing. He also mentioned how some gamers just don’t like the current set up, citing his 14 year old daughter playing Project Gotham as evidence of just such a “frustrated” gamer.

There has been an awful lot of fuss about how complicated joypads have become, especially with Nintendo Wii having such a radically different control method to the norm. Having grown up through a series of different forms of joystick and joypad, most gamers don’t give the number of buttons a second thought.

Personally, I wonder how much of this perceived problem lies with the controller and how much lies at the type of games that are available. I would suggest that the biggest problems to getting grandma, old uncle Jed and your kid sister playing are that they don’t want to play the games that are currently available.

Look at something like Nintendogs for example, a game popular with young females. How much of the popularity of that game lies with the subject matter, and how much with the fact that it’s controlled via a stylus and voice commands? Would the game have been just as popular had it been controlled by a standard D-Pad and buttons configuration?

That said, I’m not one to stand in the way of progress, so if Microsoft have some funky new way of controlling games then bring it on! As already mentioned the Wii controller is already causing a huge buzz, and things like EyeToy and the Buzz! controllers on PS2 have also been popular in getting traditional non-gamers playing. But take a step back and look at the types of games controlled by these methods and you’ll see that by far they differ from the normal genres of driving, beating people up or shooting things.

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